Can someone recommend books like nancy drew but for adults?

I never read a Nancy Drew book, but if you want to read adult mystery tales here goes:

Sherlock Holmes stories & novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Jim Chee & Joe Leaphorn mysteries by Tony Hillerman - they're Navajo police detectives

Arkady Renko mysteries by Martin Cruz Smith - he's a Russian flatfoot detective

Coffin Ed & Gravedigger Jones mysteries by Chester Himes - they're NYPD detectives in Harlem

"The Maltese Falcon" "The Thin Man" & short stories by Dashiell Hammett

"The Long Goodbye" "The Lady in the Lake" "The Big Sleep" & short stories by Raymond Chandler

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it

P J O'ROURKE

Nancy Drew For Adults

Harry Potter

Try the Flavia De Luce series me and my mom both love these mystery books and the main character is 11 years old it's pretty much the closest you can get. They're written for adults but easy to understand so kids can read them to.

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books.

My all time favourite mystery author is Mary Higgins Clark (not a detective series though).

If you're looking for a female detective-type series try the following authors which I enjoy:

Sue Grafton (humourous private eye)

Janet Evanovich (humourous bond agent)

JD Robb (police lieutenant)

Patricia Cornwall (topics a little creepy though)

Marie Carollie

The Three Investigators is really good mystery series that is three boy detectives that solve mysteries. There are about 43 books in the series.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Investigators

Another good one is the box car children series htough it is a lower level of reading that is good for 3rd graders.

Agatha Christy writes excellently amazing murder mysteries. Might not be exactly what you're looking for, but it has the whole mystery about it :)